It's hard to sell a Ferrari with a dead man in the passenger seat
The road to bliss . . . or murder and betrayal?
Jolene Asdale is one sale away from becoming a successful Finger Lakes businesswoman. But her dream stalls when a dead body rolls out of the shiny Ferrari in her exotic car showroom, instantly labeling her a murder suspect.
Arriving on the scene to investigate is Deputy Ray Parker, Jolene's almost-ex-husband, whose suspicions are raised when he learns of Jolene's public (and allegedly violent) argument with the victim. When Ray discovers wads of cash in her home—along with signs that Jolene is colluding with her unpredictable, fugitive sister—he is all but convinced of Jolene's guilt. But could a spite-driven local be trying to frame her? Or is an out-of-towner trying to taint the popular tourist town?
Facing bankruptcy, a murder conviction, and divorce from the man she still loves, Jolene will do whatever it takes to solve the crime and keep herself and her sister out of jail . . . even if it means careening into the path of a killer.
Professional Reviews
Kirkus Reviews
Buyer’s remorse is the order of the day as an upstate New York car dealer confronts murder and mayhem.
Three years ago, she gave up her marriage to sheriff’s deputy Ray Parker because she couldn’t risk passing on her mother’s bipolar genes to the child he desperately wanted. Now, all Jolene Asdale asks is to be one of the Finger Lakes region’s business successes. But the CEO of the Hughes grocery chain backs out of his deal to buy the 2006 Ferrari Spider she’s selling when accountant Tim Lapham’s body falls out of the front seat. Brennan Rowe refuses to make good the $759,000 she bid for the 1957 Mercedes Benz 300SL roadster at auction. And Stanley Oliver thinks Jolene owes him more than $10,000 in damages for the DeLorean he ordered but won’t pay for since joy riders took it for a test drive. Nor is business the dealer’s only source of anxiety. Her sister Erica is missing from the inpatient psych center, and her companion in flight looks suspiciously like the thug who’s been robbing local convenience stores. But her biggest problem is Ray, who’s back on the scene investigating Tim’s murder. Ray, who has commitment issues of his own, gave luscious Catherine Thomas a diamond but can’t seal the deal with a proposal. Much as Jolene regrets leaving Ray—she never filed the divorce papers he signed—she can’t reconcile with a guy who thinks she might be a cold-blooded killer.
Bork juggles multiple puzzles deftly in her witty debut.
CrimeSpree Magazine
"A Broken Vows Mystery" is the title of this new series. The contemporary setting is a tony village in the Finger Lake region of New York State in December.
A great opening scene, as heroine Jolene Asdale, owner of a classic car business, theatrically whips open the door of a Ferrari to show the car to a prospective buyer--and a body falls out. Talk about killing a deal! The body is that of a man Jolene briefly dated, and there's other evidence to tie, or rather pin, the murder on her. Not good that her soon-to-be-ex, Ray Parker, is the investigating sheriff on the case. Evidence piles up against her, including several witnesses who saw Jolene and the now-deceased together in her car showroom, supposedly arguing--and supposedly she hit him. She says they were talking about zoning, parking meters and politics. Bad goes to worse and then worser. Her sister has escaped from a mental institution, and uses Jolene's apartment as a way station with three other 'friends', one of whom is a fellow escapee. The two escapees may be robbing stores. The other half of the story is about Jolene trying to set things right with her estranged husband, and always doing the wrong thing. They haven't lived together for three years, ever since she filed the divorce papers. But the divorce was never finalized. He was pressuring her to have a child, and she didn't want to, as she thinks insanity runs in the family. Could be.
The Christmas present her sister gives her is a wonderful denouement to the story. Lovely book.
